Father's Day - Second Half

On Father's Day evening, I went with three of my kids and my sister and her husband to visit my father. He is now in his 87th year and aging terribly. He is loosing it mentally as well, very forgetful and struggling to understand it all. When I was a child, I thought he would liver forever. He was the hardest worker I have ever known! He expected all of us to put in days as long as he did. He demanded that we get up at 6:00am every summer day and work! We were expected to work until 2:00 pm or longer if there was a specific job that needed to be finished. We all knew how to play hard too but not my dad. He would work until the cows came home (even if we didn't have cows!) We lived on 4 and a half acres, an acre of that being a vegetable garden. We hoed endless rows of corn. Dad's idea of going out to eat was taking a salt shaker out in the garden and eating everything raw with watermelon for dessert.

I complained a lot as a youth for having to get up and work, work, work! I would add that all of my friends got to sleep in during the summer and I had to get up at 6:00am. Dad was determined to "do it while it was cool." Now looking back, and even though I hated it so much as a kid, I am more grateful than ever. My father taught me the value of hard work, and to work until the the job is done and then play. The play becomes that much more enjoyable! I am who I am partly because of my hard working, teaching father. It is hard to see him not as sharp and more feeble than he has ever been. I know it will only get worse as he gets older. After spending time with him on Father's Day, I do not want to get his age.

Here we are with him. Notice his stooped stance. I am sure it is from all the hard work he has done over the years. At his height he was 5' 11". I am 5' 5". So he has shrunk a little.




Thanks Dad for all of your teaching and training. And thanks for being tough and expecting your kids to work. I think the world needs more Dads like you.

Father's Day surprise

We go to Utah to enjoy the beautiful weather and the gorgeous mountains. Summer is great here because it allows us to be outside during June and July. But we love going because we get to spend time with family. This year, we are staying at my sister Winnifred's house. She and my brother-in-law have some pretty cool friends. Just after coming home from church on Father's day some of these friends stopped by. They were in the neighborhood and were just picking up a few items for their home. It was quite delightful to see them both. My friendship with them goes back to high school, when I was in their home several times with their son Matt. On this particular day, I had the opportunity to introduce my family to them. I am sure that General Conference will never be the same at our house when he is at the pulpit. He keep calling Seth "Split" because of the logo on his shirt and Megan "Highland" because of her jacket. When he left, more than one of my kids commented on how funny he was. They are dear people, and I hope my kids never forget meeting Elder and Sister Holland.

My Senior

I have been wanting to write this blog for some time but I just keep putting it off. Mainly because it just brings to the bubbling surface all the feelings I want to keep hidden. I wrote a blog last year at this time about my kids moving up towards graduation and the feelings I had. I did not know that I would feel it more so this year with my oldest graduating from High school. The feelings are magnified even more so.

I have always been the type of mother (or so I thought) that celebrated each new thing my children were going to face. I never cried at them starting Kindergarten, or graduating 6th grade. It was a little weird to see them starting Jr. High and then High school but I was ok with that. It's just that in seeing Tessa graduating reminds me of how I felt graduating from High School. I remember it vividly even though it was so long ago. She will be moving on and even though she is going to be living at home, going to a junior college for the first year, I am not sure that I can tell her to turn out the light and go to bed. There is a different feel to the Mother/Daughter relationship. We have always been friends but I was a mom to her too. But now, I feel as if that title has come to mean something else. I will always worry and want to help but now is the time for me to be silent until the advice is to be asked for. Even the world no longer sees me as her guardian. She signs all the paperwork for herself now, she can check herself in and out of an Urgent Care, and my role is now a limited role.

But even if my role as her mother has diminished some, I can still be proud and look at her with admiration for being the student that she has been and woman that she is. She is caring and considerate of others, she thinks first and then acts. She is compassionate and loving. She is great with kids and loves them. She is organized and punctual. Hardly ever does she procrastinate. She has a very contagious laugh and loves to have fun. She is a loyal friend. I am grateful to have been chosen to be her mother. She has made my calling as mother an easy one.




She can be intent and fierce when she needs to be.




She is funny too. :)

I love you Tessa. I pray you will do well on your new adventures! And that you will work hard as you always have to attain those goals you have set for yourself. Remember who you are, and act accordingly! :)

Prickly Blue Eyes

Spring Break is a time for relaxation and laziness in the hygiene department that is. Alan decided to let it grow. I had never seen his face so scraggly so I mentioned that. I guess he took that to mean he was to grow it out! He let it go for almost two weeks. It was getting harder and harder for me to get close because he was so prickly! Here is a picture of him prickly. Check out those whitish/gray hairs. He must be getting old!



After a couple of weeks, he decided it was time to take it off. But then he came out of the bathroom looking like this. But never the less he still was too prickly to kiss even though it was getting softer to touch. I begged him to let me take pictures of him. These are only a few of the few I got. (He doesn't like me taking pictures of him.)



It is all shaved off and back to normal. Yeah! So, needless to say, I think you all should be jealous because I get to gaze into these baby blues whenever I want! :)

Photos

I love photos! But I love photos that I have taken and I don't really like my photo being taken. I guess we don't want to see what the rest of the world can see of us.




But.... the other day, my good friend Janet at http://justmejanet.com came over to my house and took pictures of me and my dear friend Ann for our hubbies for Valentines day. Just some nice pictures so he has one on his desk kind. I think they turned out well. Not to mention that between the three of us we laughed and laughed. That is something that we do a lot each and every time we do get together.





I love these two friends and I love being with them. Thanks Janet for the laughs, the friendship and these dear photos for my honey and for me. :) Two thumbs up!

And by the way... Happy Valentines to a wonderful man. I am grateful to have you as my friend, my spouse and my sweetheart. I am glad we have each other forever! After meeting nearly 22 years ago (February 17), I have only come to love you more and more. I am glad we have the eternities to love each other completely. I love you to the moon and back... K8e :)

The Farm

My heart is broken today as I remember my childhood home and the many wonderful memories made there. I won't go into much detail other than this property was recently swindled away from my father who is in his 86th year. I wish I had more pictures to show how wonderful the place was in it's prime but alas, most of the ones taken were film and I didn't care to go through all the pictures I have taken to scan a few. This is a picture taken of an old Pioneer home on the front part of the property. The "farm" once was 4 and a half acres but now is 3 and a half. I will miss it being in the family. My heart is so broken.



As a post script: Saturday Feb 5th I received email from siblings that said the man that had swindled the property from my father felt that it would be in his best interest to revoke the deed. So the property is back into the hands of my father. Big sigh of relief!

Provo Tabernacle

I guess you could say I am in mourning. This morning my sister texted me to tell me that the Provo LDS Tabernacle was on fire. The Tabernacle isn't like our regular church buildings and they aren't like our Temples. In our churches we worship weekly on Sunday. In our Temples we have weddings and other ordinances for eternity. In our Tabernacles we also worship, meeting there every six months with a larger geographical area than just our regular church members. We also hold cultural events there as well as funerals for dignitaries. I guess you could say it is a building used for larger groups. There aren't Tabernacles in every City. Usually it is a '"Pioneer City", where the Pioneers started the city long ago. There is a Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, one in St. George, and Brigham City, Utah. There are more than that but I am not going to list them all. You would recognize it if you saw it because it looks old and large and beautiful.

But Provo LDS Tabernacle was special to me. I grew up attending meetings every 6 months in its majesty. I remember sitting and staring at the beautiful stained glass windows those old pioneers had made by hand as the speakers would edify us with spoken word. When the meeting became too warm, a man would go around with a long hook and slide the windows open for any kind of breeze that would stir the air. I remember the choirs filling our souls with liquid warmth, clear down to your toes. I sat in the choir loft, on soft seats, sharing my voice with others to fill the space with melody and harmony. I graduated Seminary there, I listened and participated in the Hallelujah Chorus there, I took tours through that magnificent building, and attended the funeral of a dear friend. It seems so much of me was intertwined with the smooth varnished wood and the spiral stairs to the balcony. To the hand carved ornateness of the woodwork to the funny cramped women's bathroom. I feel as if I have lost a part of me today as I looked at the pictures and video of its destruction. I know how much I loved that building and I am sure there are many others that feel similarly as I. I shall always look back on it with fondness for the memories had in that building. But today, I will mourn with the many in Utah County that are also mourning.